1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a shift lever apparatus for changing a shift position when a shift lever is moved.
2. Description of the Related Art
A shift lever apparatus for shifting a transmission mounted on a vehicle such as an automobile is supported, by way of example, at a lower end thereof by a cylindrical shaft that is arranged in parallel with the left-right (transverse) direction of the vehicle so that the apparatus may be operated in a shift direction (i.e. a front-rear direction of the vehicle). An example in which the lower end of such a shift lever apparatus is supported by a shaft is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 2001-30789.
According to the invention disclosed in JP-A No. 2001-30789, a pin-stopper hole is provided in the shaft which is rotatable in the shift direction, and a retaining member for preventing a pin from falling out from the pin-stopper hole is provided in the vicinity of the pin-stopper hole. The retaining member restrains the pin head from the side of an insertion direction of the pin. When the pin is inserted into the pin-stopper hole to a position where the pin can connect the lower end of the shift lever with the shaft, the retaining member restrains the pin head from the insertion direction side thereof in order to restrict the pin from moving in the insertion direction. Hence, the pin is prevented from falling out of the pin-stopper hole.
However, the shift lever apparatus of this type has a disadvantage such that assembling of the lower end of the shift lever with the shaft becomes troublesome because of the increase in the number of components required for the assembling thereof. Such a disadvantage is observed significantly, in particular, in the type of shift lever apparatus in which a shift lever is assembled with a shaft after being mounted in a housing.